Filling Small Gaps in Hull Bevels

Builder's Forum
1

Hey, everybody! First time kayak builder, doing 2 Shearwater hybrids. I'm an experienced woodworker, and I'm used to fussing over details that some might not bother with. I just completed assembling and glassing the inside of the hull, and I'm preparing to do the outside. I'm not totally happy with the precision of some of my hull panel bevels. No daylight shining through, but there are a few gaps of around 1/16" on the outside. I'm tempted to putty these for aesthetic reasons. Any opinions? Waste of time? Bad idea for practical reasons? If it makes sense to do it, what would you use? Epoxy with wood flour? I have a set of Mohawk tinted epoxy sticks I could use, but I worry about compatibility with the MAS epoxy.

 

Thanks, Pat

2

Last night on my SW16h I filled some of those panel gaps with wood flour thicken epoxy using a syringe. Seems to work fine. I didn't want to risk bubbles under the glass.

Dan

3

You definitely should fill them for mechanical reasons. Glass is very strong in tension, but thin layers will fatigue. It could also start to peel. So always have your glass supported by something. Syringes full of epoxy/woodflour, as Dan says, are just what you need.

Laszlo

 

 

 

4

Thanks, guys.